Photo (l to r): Front: Sidney Binder, Thelma Flores, Bonnie Robbins, Exalted Ruler Gloria LeCouvre, Marsha Ferrazzi, Mary E. Slavik, Nicole Quenney; Center: Robert Good, Carrie Carreon, Judy Pearce, Tiffany Atkinson, Michael Bauerkemper, Michele Beaumont, Larry Green; Back:
Brandon Moss, Matthew J Morrison, Van Douglas, Jack Weston, Don Wolf, Rourke Oakland, Tom Kalan.
Mission Viejo, CA – Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge No. 2444 (“Elks Lodge”) recently initiated twenty (20) new members.
Exalted Ruler Gloria LeCouvre led the team of Elks Lodge officers in their traditional monthly ceremony that initiated the following new members: Sidney Binder, Thelma Flores, Bonnie Robbins, Marsha Ferrazzi, Mary E. Slavik, Nicole Quenney, Robert Good, Carrie Carreon, Judy Pearce, Tiffany Atkinson, Michael Bauerkemper, Michele Beaumont, Larry Green, Brandon Moss, Matthew J Morrison, Van Douglas, Jack Weston, Don Wolf, Rourke Oakland and Tom Kalan.
Exalted Ruler Gloria LeCouvre said, “I was tremendously honored to initiate so many new members into the Elks Lodge in one evening. We look forward to their future volunteer work at the Elks Lodge which helps achieve our objective of improving the quality of life in the Saddleback Valley communities that we serve.”
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ELKS LODGE DICTIONARY PROGRAM SIX YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL EXCEEDS 23,000
Mission Viejo, CA – Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge No. 2444 (“Elks Lodge”) has completed its sixth year of giving dictionaries to third grade students. Over that six year period, the Elks Lodge has given a cumulative total of 23,448 dictionaries to third graders in the Saddleback Valley.
On a national basis since the 1990s, the Dictionary Project has been able to reach an estimated cumulative total of 16,995,291 third graders. As of December 2011, an estimated 2,121,383 students have been reached in the 2011 – 2012 school year. In addition to local Lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, other groups that distribute dictionaries on a national basis to third graders include: Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Granges and Lions Clubs.
Elks Dictionary Project Chairman and Past Exalted Ruler Pat Martino said of the dictionary program, “I have participated in many charitable programs.
The Elks Lodge dictionary program is one of the most satisfying charitable programs I have had the pleasure to lead.
The dictionaries not only help students in their crucial third grade but throughout their life time. I am reminded of the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
The Mission Viejo / Saddleback Elks Lodge No. 2444, celebrating forty-two (42) years of service to the Saddleback Valley communities, is one of ten lodges in the Orange Coast District of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) whose headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The BPOE is a charitable organization with a 144 year history of giving, “Elks Care, Elks Share.”
